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Customs denies it knew about corruption

Australian Customs has defended itself against allegations senior management knew about potential corruption for years before arrests were made.

Police have arrested 17 people, including five commonwealth officers, as part of their ongoing investigation into customs corruption.

Fairfax Media reports that files obtained under Freedom of Information laws show the department made 700 secret inquiries into its officials in the three years to 2010, with two-thirds of investigations leading to adverse findings.

The files reportedly examine allegations of weapons and drug trafficking, fraud, links to underworld groups and the leaking sensitive intelligence.

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But the Australian Customs Service has responded with a statement saying many of the 724 complaints from 2007 to 2010 were unsubstantiated.

"In 166 cases there was no evidence found to substantiate the allegation of corruption or serious misconduct," the statement said.

There were 331 instance where Customs could not report the outcome of internal disciplinary processes because of changes to record keeping.

Many of the complaints involved cases of internal discipline rather than allegations of criminal or fraudulent conduct, Customs said.

It has admitted that in 39 of the cases, officers were found to have breached the public service code of conduct and were subject to "administrative action", including loss of salary.

Fairfax reported the files showed crime groups tried to bribe officers with amounts of up to $80,000.